


Mundane Boyfriend

by camichats



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Closeted Character, Coming Out, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Parabatai Bond, Relationship Reveal, Secret Relationship, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:33:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23880868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: Alec has a mundane boyfriend that, strictly speaking, neither Jace nor Izzy know about. When Simon's best friend somehow sees them kill a demon, Alec comes out, Simon is confused, and Jace finds this whole thing hilarious.
Relationships: Alec Lightwood & Jace Wayland, Simon Lewis/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 27
Kudos: 262





	Mundane Boyfriend

"Remind me why we're here?" Alec muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

"We are here to support Simon and his band," Clary faithfully said. 

"Right. And they're going with Champagne Enema right now?" Alec was hardly an expert on music, but that was definitely a mistake. 

Clary stifled a laugh, shooting Simon and Maureen a thumb's up when they glanced over. "I tried to tell them it was a bad idea," she defended when they went back to setting up. 

"I told Simon too when he texted me with the name, but I guess we're not important enough to listen to," Alec grumbled. 

Clary laughed again, making an aborted move to playfully shove at his shoulder before setting it along the back of the couch-- she'd learned, over the course of Alec and Simon dating, that physical contact needed to be kept to a minimum between them. "Listen Alec, I've been friends for Simon for a long time, and you want to know something I've learned about him?" 

Alec motioned for her to continue. 

"He wants advice, but... he doesn't necessarily want to listen to it. It's annoying, but he needs for us to listen to him, not fix all his problems. Or bad decisions as the case might be." 

"Hm." To hear Simon tell it, he was the one keeping _Clary_ from making bad decisions. In Alec's opinion, they were kind of like Jace and Izzy: getting into trouble because of the dumbass ideas they came up with together. "If they were a metal band, this would be fine. They have an acoustic guitar and a piano, they should call themselves 'Beige Chair Given Life' and it would be more accurate." 

On the stage, Maureen introduced them, then winced after she finished saying 'Champagne Enema'. "See? By the time their set is over, they'll be back to asking for new names. Nothing to worry about." 

"Hmph." Alec didn't see how hard it was to ask for advice and then listen to it, but he was learning all sorts of things about mundanes since he and Simon had started dating. For example, that they could afford to ignore advice because it wasn't life and death for them in their every day lives. 

"Just listen and pretend to enjoy yourself." 

"Is that what you do?" 

"Don't tell Simon," she muttered, lowering her voice as the opening notes started playing, "but that is exactly what I do. I may dress like a hipster, but I prefer pop rock." 

Alec smirked, and they both settled in to listen. Despite neither of them really enjoying the music, they were the loudest to clap after each and every song. His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he hoped it was Jace or Izzy and not an official alert. Demonic activity was on the rise, and Alec was going to need a really good excuse if he had to leave before they were done performing. He slid it out of his pocket and checked the screen. 

**New Text: Jace**

**Got a lead on a ravener demon for tonight, make sure your girlfriend knows not to expect you ;)**

Alec rolled his eyes and put his phone back in his pocket. He was pretty sure that Jace knew it wasn't a woman he was seeing, but if he thought about it for too long, he couldn't breathe. Telling Jace that he was in a relationship hadn't been in the plan at _all_ , but Alec had needed advice on their next date, and no amount of bullshit 'theoretically' addenda were going to hide it. Jace didn't know for sure it was a man, and he probably didn't suspect that he was a mundane, so it was still fairly secret. 

"Are you leaving?" Clary asked quietly. 

"No." 

She nodded, then leaned back into her own space. 

Champagne Enema-- by the Angel, they _really_ needed to change that name as soon as they could-- wrapped up, and everyone clapped. The audience was definitely more impressed with them the longer they played, so it was a good note to end on. Simon and Maureen came over, Maureen gratefully taking the water bottle that Clary handed her, and Simon throwing himself into Alec's arms, already babbling a mile a minute about how nervous he had been. 

"Relax," Alec said as he hugged him back, "you were great." 

Simon was smiling so wide it looked like his face was going to split in half. "Really? Cause you know, it was so packed when we started, and normally this place is half empty when we're playing, and I was totally worried that they would like, boo us off the stage." 

"There was no stage, Simon," Maureen said, wiping water from her upper lip. 

"The metaphorical stage." 

"Obviously," Alec added. 

"Obviously," Maureen repeated, sharing a look with Clary. 

"Look guys," Clary said, wrapping one arm around Maureen's shoulders and the other around Simon's, "you were _amazing_ up there. But... you gotta change your name. You gotta." 

"Yeah," Maureen said, wrinkling her nose, "I said it and then kind of wanted to die. Why did we think that was a good idea?" 

"We were trying to act grownup," Simon said, stealing a drink from Alec's mostly-empty coffee cup. "A horrible mistake, we are children and we know it." 

"Please don't say that," Alec said. "I feel bad enough being older than you." 

"Children? Oh no, clearly you misheard me, Mister Smith, I said we are very great, big adults who are one hundred percent sober except for on Shabbat and the High Holy Days, and that's why the name doesn't fit. We are all totally old enough to legally drink, but we won't because we are... upstanding citizens." 

Alec snorted, pulling him closer and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. 

"Speaking of, uh, attempting to drink, we're going to take Clary out tonight, celebrate her eighteenth birthday and also her long-awaited acceptance into art school.” Clary and Simon high-fived each other. “You want to come?" Simon asked. 

"Luke got me some spray paint, I'm going to do the van for them. Once they decide on a more official name, anyways. It'll be fun, we can try to get into a club afterwards or something," Clary added with a grin. “It’s sure to be a bit of a disaster, should be fun.” 

"Can't, I've got sibling bonding time." 

"Your brother and sister get to spend so much time with you," Simon whined-- in that way where he wasn't really complaining. That had taken some getting used to for Alec, that when Simon complained about some things, he didn't always mean that he wanted it to change. He complained about Alec spending time with his family, but he would cancel plans with Alec if Clary or Rebecca or his mother needed him. It was, as Simon explained in one of his more serious moments, a way of letting Alec know that he wished they could spend more time together and not a judgement of his other relationships. 

Dating was hard. 

"Well, you guys will have plenty of fun without me. Besides, partying isn't exactly my thing." 

"Color me shocked," Clary said flatly. 

"You're hilarious," Alec replied, just as flatly, then looked at Simon again. He was just unfairly cute, beaming at him behind his glasses. Lying to him left a bitter taste in his mouth, but Alec kept the truth from him so he would keep smiling like this. Besides, it's not like Alec could introduce him to his parents or anything. There wasn't protocol for telling mundanes the truth unless they were about to parent your children, and obviously that wasn't an option for them. Even if Alec _could_ tell him, he wasn't sure that he would. They'd been together for six months, and while Alec had told him that he loved him, sex was still... not on the table. If he couldn't have sex with Simon when he loved him and _wanted_ to, sharing a secret that big was definitely not on the table yet. "I've got a couple more hours before I need to go. You want a coffee?" 

"Ooo, caramel latte, lots of whip." 

"'kay." Simon gave him a quick kiss before he left for the counter. Alec placed the order then got out his phone to text Jace back. 

**What time are we heading out?**

**From Jace: Be back by 8 so we can load up**

**I'll be there.**

Alec brought Simon back his drink when it was ready, wrapping an easy arm around him as they lounged on the couch together. Maureen and Clary got into a heated discussion about art and if street art qualified or if it was only illegal-- as far as Alec could tell, they were agreeing with each other, but he wasn't paying very much attention. "Hey," Simon said quietly, while they were distracted, "I know you're not out to your family, but do you think I could come to one of your game nights? I'll keep my hands to myself, promise. I can just be your weird accounting friend that helps you with your calculus homework instead of your boyfriend." 

"I don't think that's a good idea." 

Simon looked a little disappointed, but like he'd expected it. "Yeah, probably not. I just- I guess I want to meet them because I know how important they are to you. We're getting serious, don't you think? I mean, I feel like we are, so this is normally the part where we start expanding the friend group. You could come over for dinner some day, meet my sister and let my mom stuff you full of food while she grills you about what you're doing with your life. But uh, if that's too much, then it's too much and we don't need to worry about it." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Yeah, absolutely. I don't want to rush you into anything, and I know you're pretty private. Now that I say it out loud like that, it might be best that you _never_ meet my mother, actually. She's super nice, but kind of intense." 

"That must be where you get it from." 

"Hey," Simon protested, but he was smiling. 

Alec kissed him, just because he could. 

* * *

"I don't see how a platinum wig is really going to help you," Alec said as Izzy straightened it on her head as they left the Institute. 

"Demons dig blondes, Alec," Jace said. "We told you earlier." 

"They don't need to dig her, we just need to find out where the blood they're selling is going." 

"And to do that," she said, finally satisfied with its position, "we need someone pretty enough that they won't look too closely." Izzy smirked when he rolled his eyes. "Stop worrying, everything will be fine." 

"I dunno. All of this is just a little strange, don't you think?" 

"They're demons, pretty much all they do is strange," Jace said. 

"Not like this, and you know it." 

"A little less talk, a little more running, boys," Izzy said, starting to sprint. They both followed, and all conversation was put on hold as the hunt began. 

* * *

"Alec, what the hell is going on!" Clary half-screamed, clearly freaking out. Given that she'd just seen them kill half a dozen demons, that made sense. 

"You know her?" Jace asked, walking over. 

"Who the hell are these guys and- oh my god, you just murdered someone!" 

"Clary," Alec said, grabbing her arm before she could fall to the ground in shock. "Clary, listen to me, I know it looks insane, but you need to breathe." 

She was shaking, but more importantly, she was breathing like he'd asked. It wasn't making her completely calm, but it was helping. "What is going on?" she demanded. "You're not a killer and- look, whoever these people are, let's just leave, you can get away from them." 

"Take a look around: no bodies. Don't you think that means something?" he asked in a low tone. 

Clary's eyes darted around the floor, which looked as clean now as it had before any demons were killed. 

"Okay? They were demons." 

"Demons," she repeated, looking a little wild around the edges. 

"Yes, demons, and I don't understand why you could see any of this, because you shouldn't have been able to." 

Clary opened her mouth but was cut off by Jace before she could say anything. 

"She saw through my glamour outside, but I didn't think she'd follow after me. Is this your secret girlfriend? She's cute. Hi, I'm Jace." 

"Yeah, maybe now's not the best time for introductions," Alec said instead of correcting him. He turned his attention back to Clary. So far, she hadn't tried to break free of his grip, and he was taking that as a good thing. "Have you seen anything like this before? Monsters, vampires, werewolves, anything like that?" 

She shook her head. "No, I- no, _never_. What the hell is going on, and what do you mean I shouldn't have been able to see this? Can't everybody see it?" 

Izzy walked over to join them, coat back on and wig in her hand. "Don't you think if everybody could see it, you wouldn't be the only one screaming?" 

"I... I guess? This is... how have I never seen this before?" 

"That's a good question," Alec muttered, finally letting go because it looked like she wasn't going to take off running. "And one we need to answer, but not right here and not now. Are Simon and Maureen out there?" he asked, pointing past the curtain that, while partially open, was still mostly covering the area. 

She nodded, visibly trying to pull herself back together. 

"Okay, good." 

"Alec?" Izzy cut in. "We should get back to the Institute." 

"Yeah, one second. Clary? Go back out there and pretend like nothing happened, okay? I'll come by tomorrow and we can work on figuring out what's going on with you." 

"What? I can't-" 

They all started to leave the back room, and Clary stumbled in her hurry to catch up with them. 

"Alec, I can't just pretend like everything's the same when I just saw demons get-! Slain? Do you say slayed? Vanquished?" 

"Mostly we just say killed," Jace chimed in, throwing a smirk over his shoulder. 

"Well whatever, I can't go back to the van and pretend like the world hasn't completely changed!" 

"The world is the same it's always been," Alec said, slowing to a stop when she tugged on his arm. "What?" 

"Does Simon know about all this?" she asked, keeping her voice low enough that with the noise of the club, Jace and Izzy couldn't hear her. 

"No, and he doesn't need to." 

"He's my best friend, I can't keep this from him. Listen, I can keep my mouth shut tonight, but you should be the one to tell Simon. I'll bring him with me tomorrow and we can all figure it out together." 

"No." 

Clary was looking at him like he was being absurd. "Alec, we can't keep this from him." 

"We can, and it's _exactly_ what we're going to do." 

Her expression hardened, and she was about to argue her point when Izzy and Jace realized they weren't right behind them anymore and turned around to come back to them. "Alec, what are you waiting around for? Let's go," Jace said. 

"Who the fuck are you?" Clary asked, putting her hands on her hips as she glared up at him. 

Jace just looked amused. "I'm Jace, and you are?" 

"Clary, and you need to stop bossing him around. Alec can make his own decisions without you rushing him. We're talking, give us a minute," she said firmly. 

"Fine, but just one," Jace said, looking over at Alec. He was willing to indulge Alec's secret personal life, but only to an extent. 

Alec didn't feel like correcting him, so he nodded, and they gave them space again. "The only reason I'm going to tell you anything is because you're already involved in this, and we need to figure it out as soon as possible. Simon isn't, and if we drag him into it, he's going to get hurt." 

"I can't lie to him. And- okay I have to ask, what's with all the tats? I've seen you a hundred times and you've never had them. Do you cover them with makeup when you come around?" 

Alec grit his teeth. "This is taking too long, I don't have the time to explain right now, will you just-" 

"Clary! Clary, who are you talking to?" Simon asked, him and Maureen walking over, holding three martini's between the two of them. "Come on, let's drink, celebrate!" He tried holding one out to her, but she looked at first it, then Alec in confusion. 

"He can't see me, just like everyone else can't right now," Alec explained. "Please Clary, keep it to yourself." 

"I-" Conflicted, she glanced at Simon, who was beginning to look concerned. "Yeah. Yeah, let's drink. I um, I can't believe your fake ID worked," she said, tucking some hair behind her ear and trying to smile. 

Simon beamed, and Alec looked at him for a moment before joining Jace and Izzy. "Yeah, I can't believe it either!" he said cheerfully, putting the drink in her hand and clinking their rims together. 

He could feel Clary's eyes lingering on his back as they left, and all he hoped was that she wasn't filling him in on what she'd seen. 

* * *

Alec, Jace, and Izzy were sitting at one of the tables in ops, filling out their paperwork. It may have been an unsanctioned mission, but six dead demons who were selling mundane blood was still good, even if they hadn't managed to get a lead on who was buying it. 

Alec's phone rang, and he sighed when the caller ID said it was Clary. He slid it to answer and immediately started talking. "Hey, this isn't really a good time." 

"Alec? Oh thank god you answered, I need help," she said in a rush. "The loft is totally wrecked, it- it looks like it might have been a robbery? Some of Dot's antiques are missing, and- and Alec there's blood on the ground and I can't find my mother _anywhere_." 

"Why are you calling me?" he asked, even as he pushed himself up and went to grab his bow. 

"My mom called me when we were leaving Pandemonium and- god, she said something about demons and a warlock that could help me, but you're the only person I know that we can trust." 

"We?" 

"Um, yeah. Simon's here. He was with me when my mom called, and I know I promised not to say anything to him, but he's here and I needed to explain why I was calling you. I'm sorry Alec, I thought it was the best thing to do since he's already here and involved." 

Alec wanted to bang his head against the wall, but he settled for grabbing his bow and a handful of arrows. "Whatever. Where are you right now?" 

"At the loft still, I figured we should be here in case my mom came back." 

"Too dangerous. Go to Luke's, I'll meet you there." Luke was basically her father, if he didn't have answers, he'd at least be willing to let her in for a while. 

"Luke isn't home, he's at the police station." 

"Fine, then go there." Not ideal, but still better than her wandering around Brooklyn by herself. If she stayed at the loft, she’d definitely get attacked. 

"Okay." 

"If you see someone following you on the way, get in a public space. Most demons won't attack if there are witnesses." 

"What if it's not most?" 

"Then run. I'll be there soon," he said, then hung up. 

"Where are we going?" Jace said, grabbing a sword and sticking the handle in his pocket when the blade retracted. 

" _We_ aren't going anywhere. This is off the record." 

"Absolutely, off the record. Where are we going?" 

Alec sighed, quickly getting out his stele and runing the arrows. "This isn't a mission, this is a favor for a friend." 

"Your girlfriend?" 

Alec sighed heavier, wanting to erase the last few hours from existence. "She's not my girlfriend," Alec grit out, figuring that if Jace wasn't going to let him go alone, he might as well tell him when he was going to meet Simon soon anyways. 

"Fine, not your girlfriend," Jace said easily. Easily enough that he'd probably known better when he said it the first time and only repeated it to get under his skin. "She has the Sight, for sure, but what problem does she have that we can help with?" 

"Her apartment's trashed, and her supposedly mundane mother called her to tell her to watch out for demons." 

"So we solve mysteries now," Jace said with a smirk. "Nice. I've always wanted to be a detective. Inspector Wayland just has a ring to it." 

"Look Jace, I don't need this from you right now. Either you can come and help, or you can stay here and make fun of me for the rest of the night." 

Jace's expression turned serious. "I will always fight by your side, you don't have to doubt that. How do you know her, anyway?" 

"I'm dating her best friend. You ready?" he asked, shoving his arrows in the quiver. 

"Uh guys?" Izzy chimed in, waving her hand from where she was still sitting at the table. "Where are you going?" 

"My parabatai has a craving for a milkshake," Jace said, clapping him on the shoulder and steering him towards the door. "Don't worry Izzy, I'll make sure he brushes his teeth afterwards. You won't even notice we're gone!" 

The door to the Institute closed behind them. "Right, we always bring our weapons when we're grabbing milkshakes." 

"Where was I when you were actually getting a milkshake? I thought we were brothers, Alec. Brothers bring each other milkshakes." 

"Shut up. This way, and let me do the talking." 

They started running, but Jace still needed to ask, "Since when do you want to do the talking?" 

Alec ran faster to avoid answering. Jace knew he was dodging, but it didn't matter because he never pushed. They were most of the way to the police station when they saw Clary and Simon running away from the building and towards them. Two people were following them, not demons. They looked like seraph blades, but Alec couldn't understand why any Shadowhunter would be attacking them. Then he saw the red, almost inflamed circle rune at the base of the woman's neck where her white dress didn't cover, and it made sense. "Simon, stop looking behind you!" she screamed. "We need to- shit-" she said, seeing how close the other people were. She glanced ahead of herself and saw them. "Alec, help!" 

"Wh- Alec?" Simone asked, thoroughly confused. "What does he have to do with-" 

"Get down!" Alec shouted, pulling back an arrow and releasing in quick succession. He wouldn't have hit either of them even if they hadn't gotten down, but fortunately, Clary knew when to listen, and she immediately dropped to the pavement, taking Simon with her. 

Jace had kept running while Alec slowed to shoot, and he vaulted over them, taking care of the other Circle member in short order. 

Clary lifted her head. "Were those demons?" she asked Alec as he got closer. She glanced behind herself, where Jace was currently pulling his bloody blade from the man's body. "Oh god." 

"Circle members." 

"Circle?" 

"Uh sorry not sorry to interrupt this little conversation," Simon said, "but what the fuck is going on? Clary's mom and Dot are missing, you- suddenly have tattoos and a Hawkeye skill-set, I guess, and what is up with him?" He pointed back at Jace, who smirked and cocked an eyebrow at the attention. 

"That's Jace." 

"Oh _that's_ Jace," Simon said pushing himself up; Clary did the same. He straightened his shirt. "Huh, he kind of looks not as much like an asshole as I was expecting." 

"Bold words from a mundane." 

"Never mind, he's exactly as much of an asshole as I expected." 

"Who are you, again?" Jace asked dismissively. 

"Simon, Simon Lewis, and in my head, saying my first name twice like that was supposed to have a more profound pause than it did so now it just sounds like I'm dumb." 

"I wouldn't argue th-" 

"Jace," Alec cut in. 

Jace glanced at him, then his eyes went wide and he looked back at Simon. "Oh, you're Clary's best friend." 

"That's right. Ever since grade school." 

"How interesting," Jace said, smirk back in place and quickly growing with smugness. 

"Shut up," Alec muttered. 

"No, no, this is the best thing to happen in my life in a while, I want to enjoy this." 

"Enjoy what?" Clary asked. 

"Meeting Alec's secret boyfriend. He's cute, I guess, but not really what I thought would be your type. I'm only going to get this opportunity a couple times in my life, so I need to live this to the fullest. You know, me and Izzy should-" 

"No. You're not telling Izzy anything about it, so shut up," Alec cut in. Jace knew he didn't mean anything bad by it, so he kept being smug. "Call Izzy, tell her we've got two bodies." 

Jace gave him a fake little salute and got out his phone. 

"Was Luke not there?" 

Clary glared at nothing in particular. "He was there, but we can't trust him." 

"Why not?" Alec asked slowly. 

"He was talking to them," she gestured vaguely to the bodies, "about how the last eighteen years of his life had been a lie so he could find some cup!" 

Alec dreaded what he was about to ask. "The Mortal Cup?" 

"Yeah, how'd you know?" 

"It's... important. Think of it like a holy object. Why would you have it?" 

"Well they think my mom had it and I know where it is, but if I knew where it was, then Luke would too and he wouldn't have stuck around." 

"Uh. Yeah. If Luke knows about the Cup, he knew they were part of the Circle. I wouldn't take what he said at face value, he was probably lying to try and protect you." 

Clary scoffed. "As if-" 

"Clary," Simon interjected. "I think he's right. I mean, come on, this is _Luke_ we're talking about. And I know it's my fault that I interrupted the explanation earlier, but what's the Circle?" 

"An old group of Shadowhunter extremists. Think of them like white supremacists. They hate everyone with a drop of demon blood and want to slaughter all of them." 

"Wouldn't that just be demons?" Clary asked. 

"No, it's... you know what, we can do all of this later. Point is, they thrive on violence and hate, and if you're not with them, you're against them. Jace! You good on your own out here?" 

Jace was still on the phone, so he gave him a thumbs up instead of verbally answering. 

"We're going inside." 

Jace nodded. 

"We are?" Simon said. "What if there are more circle people in there?" 

"I doubt it, but that's what weapons are for. Luke's your best chance for figuring this out," Alec told Clary. "If we leave now, he might go underground and then we won't know what's going on with your mother or your Sight, or any of this." 

She clenched her jaw, the nodded. 

Simon threw up his hands. "Great. Let's just... go back in where we got attacked, this is a great plan. I can't wait for my screams to echo around the empty halls to give a good horror shot for the other people still in the building." 

"You're not going to die," Alec said. 

"Well no offense, but how would you know? I'm terrified, like, at all times, Alec." 

Alec wanted to shoot him a disbelieving look, but it was more important to make sure there weren't threats. 

"Don't you remember when I asked you out? I was about to shake apart. I was so nervous that you were going to clock me that I almost didn't say anything, but you were- y'know, too pretty to ignore." 

"Pretty sure I was more nervous than you." 

"I wouldn't take that bet," Clary muttered. 

"Where's Luke's office?" 

"Down there," she said, pointing to a staircase nearby. 

Alec nodded. "Stay close, but far enough that I won't hit you if someone attacks." 

"Are you going to be okay by yourself if someone attacks?" Simon whispers as they start down the stairs. "Maybe we should grab Jace to be your backup because I'm totally useless in a fight, and Clary is real feisty, but if these people are shooting to kill-" 

"Simon?" Alec said, looking back at him fondly. He wasn't going to let their relationship effect his ability to do his job, but pausing for a second here should be fine. "I'll be okay. And you and Clary will be okay too. Just remember to breathe, and we'll get through this just fine." 

"Right. Of course you're right, you're a fricking professional." 

"I couldn't tell you." 

"That's- you know, that's an issue for another time, let's go find Luke." 


End file.
